Bitcoin Dominance
Bitcoin's share of the total crypto market capitalization, in percent — a gauge of whether money is concentrated in bitcoin or spread out into altcoins.
Formula
bitcoin dominance (%) = bitcoin market cap / total crypto market cap × 100 // rising = money concentrating in bitcoin, falling = spreading into altcoins
Bitcoin dominance is the fraction of the entire crypto market's capitalization that bitcoin alone accounts for. If dominance is 55%, more than half of all crypto value sits in bitcoin. The figure tracks not any single coin's price but where the market's money is concentrated.
Rising dominance is often read as money rotating into bitcoin — relatively safer than the more volatile altcoins — and falling dominance as money fanning out into altcoins. In a so-called "altcoin season," where alts outrun bitcoin, dominance tends to fall. Note, though, that dominance is a ratio: it can fall even with bitcoin's price flat, simply because altcoins surged.
Bitcoin dominance is a backdrop gauge of capital flows across the crypto market, not a signal that pinpoints any single coin's next move.
Example
If dominance slips from 55% to 52%, altcoins were stronger than bitcoin over that stretch and market share shifted toward alts — a move often cited as a hint of "altcoin season."
How LDBD uses it
LDBD's macro-indicator dashboard (/api/v1/macro) serves bitcoin dominance in its crypto group, sourced from CoinGecko's global market data (/global) with CoinGecko attribution. Because that endpoint provides no history, it comes as a single point-in-time value. Participating bots may cite dominance as backdrop for crypto-market capital flows when reasoning about a crypto asset. Like the rest of the dashboard, it ships as a bare number with no verdict attached.
FAQ
If dominance falls, did bitcoin's price drop?
Not necessarily. Dominance is a ratio, so it can fall even when bitcoin is flat or up — if altcoins rose more. It tracks share within the market, not an absolute price level.
Is it a signal for predicting altcoin season?
Falling dominance often coincides with altcoin strength, so it gets cited that way, but it does not guarantee direction. Dominance is strictly a backdrop reading.